Derrick structure for oil, gas, or artesian wells



June 13, 19 33. R, Q PFE|| 1,914,159

DERRICK STRUCTURE FOR OIL, GAS, OR ARTESIAN WELLS Filed Aug. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

June 13, 1933 3, PFElL 1,914,159

DERRLCK STRUCTURE FOR OIL, GAS,- OR ARTESIAN WELLS Fil ed Aug. 17, 19:51- 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v y 4 Y TToRNEY I Patented June 13, 1933 UNITE STATES I was P TENT o Ice ROY C. PFEIL, OF GROVE CITY, OHIO, ASSIG-NOR TO INTERNATIONAL-STACEY CORPORA- TION, OF COLUMBUS, 01110, A CORPORATION OF OHIO SOT DERRICK STRUCTURE FOR/OIL, GA$, OR ARTESIAN WELLS Application filed Au ean, 1931 Salem. 557,571.

* with reenforced derricks, although it is not necessarily limited thereto.

In the prior art, it has been customary to provide the'water table structureof a derrick with beams fixed a definite distance apart. This has a distinct disadvantage,

particularly in reenforced derrick construction. The reenforced derrick. as commonly used comprises a tower made of four legs of angle or pipe reenforced or stiffened by;

means of an additional set of legs of angle or pipe commonly referred to as relegs' These relegs are attached to the main der rick legs in such a'manner that they maybe easily and quickly removed and it is the custom to remove them after the drilling operation has been completed.

In order to insure that a supporting column will carry its load with minimum stress, it is necessary that the load be applied directly over the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the column. If the load is placed to one side of the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the column, a bending stress is created in, addition to the stress created by the direct load. In other words, the stress in a derrick leg will be greater if the load is applied eccentrically than if it is applied concentrically with the center of gravity Of-tllCIOSS-SQW tional area of each leg. However, in reenforced derrick construction, it has been the general practice to effect a compromise by so constructing and mounting the watertable as to divide up the eccentricity so that there will be only a slight amount in the single unit derrick leg and a slight amount inthe derrick leg when reenforced.

One of the objects of this lnvention is to provide a derrick structure wherein the load upon the derrick fleg will alwaysb'e applied concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the legs of the derrick, whether these legs be single unit legs or whether they be reenforced.

Another object of this invention is to atr be sacrificed in any degree.

tain this proper placing of the load by a I simple and rigid structure wherein the strength of the-derrick as a whole will not In its preferred embodiment, my lnvention contemplates the iprovisionjof a derrick structurewherein the water table beams are adjustable with relation to each other so that the distance between them may be varied inorder to place them in a position to transmit the load concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the legs of the derrick. It further contemplates the provision of a means for connecting the water-table beams to the crown angles of the derrick at one of a plurality of positions, so that they may be definitely located and maintained in the positions necessary'to assure this concentric application of the load.

The, preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding'parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is'a perspective view of the water table structure of a derrick and means for connecting it to the crown angles thereof.

' Figure 2 is a side elevation of one corner of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of one corner of the structure shown in Figure 1.

' Figuret is a diagrammatic view illustrating the mannerin which the center of gravity of the derrick'legs may vary when different types of releg s are applied thereto.

Figure 5 is aside elevation illustrating a series of adjustments which may be made to p'ositionthe load in properconcentric relation to the'derrick legs. 7

Figure 6 is aijpe'rspective view of an element entering into a modified form of my adjustable derrick structure. I

Figure 7 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of this modified form of my derrick structure. f i

Figure 8 is a plan'view of the structure shown in Figure 7;

Inthe drawings, my derrick structure is shown as comprising main leg members 1 to thetop of which are connected crown angles 2'. Disposed at each corner'and resting upon the upper" ends of the main legs 1 and also upon the crown angles 2 are plates 3.

The plates 3 are rigidly bolted to the crown angles 2 through bolt holes 4. They extend to a point outside of the water table and serve as supports for the channels 5 which are preferably bolted thereto and which in turn support the crows nest or top platform (not shown) The plates 3 are further provided with a series of adjustment holes 6, 7 and 8 which are in alignment with the bolt holes 4 and with an additional series of bolt holes 6, 7 and 8 which are preferably disposed adjacent an innerside of each plate; The bolt holes 6, 7 and 8 are in registry with bolt holes 9, 10 and 11 in the crown angles 2.

The water table beams may be designated 12 and 13. These beams are connected together in spaced relation by means of separator channels 14 and clip angles 15 which are secured to the ends thereof. Each clip angle 15 is provided with a short leg 16 and with a longer leg 17 and the longer legs 17 are provided with three spaced pairs of adjustment holes that may be designated 18, 19 and 20. In practice, the short legs of the clip angles are secured to the I-beams of the water table by means of bolts 21 while the longer legs of the clip angles are secured to the separator channels 1 1 by means of bolts 22 which may be disposed in any pair of these adjustment holes suitable for the proper spacing of the I-beams 12 and 13 so as to permit disposition of these I-beams in a position to dispose the load concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the legs of the derrick.

From this it will be seen that I have provided a water table structure wherein the Water table beams may be adjusted towards or from each other, through the medium of the adjustment bolt holes of the clip angles. It will likewise be apparent that these water table beams may be secured, after adjustment, to the corner plates 3 and crown angles 2 by means of the bolts 23 and 24 and to the corner plates alone by means of bolts 24.

The adjustment bolt holes'18, 19 and in the clip angles 15 and the adjustment bolt holes 6, 6, 9, 7, 7, 10, 8, 8 and 11 are so positioned that the water table beams may be secured to the corner plates and the crown angles in that position necessary to apply the load concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the legs, whether these legs are single unit legs or whether they are reenforced by relegs disposed outside of the main legs of the derrick or inside of such main legs. The manner in which this is effected is illustrated in Figure 5.

In this Figure 5, it will be seen, in the uppermost view, that the water table beams, being properly spaced apart as previously explained, are located to concentrically apply the load for a single unit derrick. At this time, the bolts 23 pass through the bolt holes 7 and 10 and the bolts 241 pass through the bolt holes 7.

In the intermediate view of this figure, the single unitderrick has been reenforced with angle relegs placed upon the outside of the main legs of the derrick. In order to apply the load concentrically to the center of gravity of this reenforced leg structure, the water table beams have been moved further apart and these water table beams have been secured in position by placing the bolts 23 in the apertures 6 and 9 and by placing the bolts 24: in the aperture 6.

1n the lowermost view of Figure 5 the same single unit derrick has been reenforced with pipe relegs placed inside the main angle legs of the derrick. The water table beams have been moved closer together by adjustment of the clip angles 15 and they have then been bolted in proper position to apply the load concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area of the legs, this being effected by placing the bolts 23 in the bolt holes 8 and 11 and the bolts 24 in the bolt holes 8.

It will be understood that the arrangement of bolt holes thus shownis merely illustrative. Obviously, more holes could be added or the holes could be difierently spaced to permit of properly centering the load for any given leg structure.

A modified form of my invention is shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. In this form, clip angles 25 are preferably utilized for connecting the water table beams 26 to the separator channel 27. Since these clip angles are identical in structure with the clip angles 15 previously described, it will not be neces sary to describe them in detail and it will be understood that they permit the adjustment of the water table beams towards or from each other. i

In this modified form, the water table structure is adj ustably mounted on the upper ends of the derrick legs by means of support ing corner plates 28 and ball and socket members which will subsequently be described in detail. The corner plates 28 rest upon the upper ends of the derrick legs and upon the crown angles. They are secured to these crown angles by means of bolt holes 30 and bolts passing therethrough.

Each corner plate 28 has three pairs of bolt holes which -may be respectively designated 31, 31, 32, 32, and 33, 33. These bolt holes provide a means for adjusting a supporting ball and socket structure towards or from the center of the derrick and, since the ball and socket structure in turn supports the water table beams, these water table beams may thereby be so located that the load will be concentric with the center of gravity of the derrick legs whether they are single unit legs or whether they are reenforced and regardless of the type of reenforcing. I

The ball and socket structure comprises a socket member 34 having fianges35 provided with bolt holes for the reception of the corner plates.

bolts 36 which are designed to be positioned either in the pair of bolt holes 31 and 31, 32 and 32- and 33 and 33, This, socket member 34 has its upper surface concaved as at 37 and apertured centrally as at 38.

Co-operating with the socket member 34 is the ball member 39 which is secured to the socket member by means of a rivet 40. The rivet 40 is somewhat smaller than the aperture 38 in the socket member and is provided with a concave washer 41. The rivet is further provided with a shoulder so that when it is driven it will not grip the socket tightly. Thus, the ball and socket members are securely held together and yet the connection between them is sufficiently flexible to permit the ball member to adjust itself in the socket member.

The ball members 39 support and are connected to the water table beams 26'by means of bolts 42. The heads of these bolts 42.

lie in sockets 43 in these ball members and their shanks extend upwardly through cutaway portions 44 and then through slots 45 in the flanges of the I-beams. They are provided at their upper ends with nuts 46'.

In this modified form of my invention, by adjustment of the clip angles 25, the water. table beams 26 may be properly spaced apart and the socket member 34 may then be secured in position to properly center the load by placing the bolts 36 in the pair of holes best suited for this purpose. During this positioning action, the nuts 46' Wlll be loose and the bolts 42 will freely move along the slots 45 to accommodate themselves to the adjustment effected.

The nuts on the bolts 36 and the nuts 46 may then be tightened to maintain these parts in comparatively fixed position. However, the ball and socket members will always be free to automatically adjust themselves to compensate for any slight twisting of the water'table beams or settling of the derrick corners. This ball and socket joint eliminates the danger that;

the water table beam load might be applied to only one corner or edge of a derrick leg because of the improper fitting of the water table beams and cornerplates upon the upper end of the derrick legs.

Of course, any desired means may reenforcing legs so as to'insure thatthese legs will properly bear under and support However, this is not necessary if care is taken in fabricating the derrick legs so that the main legs and the relegs are of the same length.

It will be apparent that this modified form be provided for varying the effective length of the v of my invention provides a simple and 'eflective means whereby the .load maybe applied concentrically with the center of gravity of the cross-sectional area ofthe legs.' fIt will I furthermore be apparent that it provides an automatically adj ustable means for compen sating for improper fitting as described. I

rom this description, it' will'be seen that I have provided a novel derrick structure whereinthe load of the water' table beams may always be applied concentrically with the center .of gravity of the derrickdegs,

whether these derrick legs be single unit legs or whether they be reenforced. It will likewise be apparent that by the provision of a suitable number of holes and the proper location thereof this proper location of the load maybe obtained with any type of reenforcing legs, whether these reenforcing legs be placed outside of or inside of the main legs of the derrick. Obviously, there are many other advantages arising from my novel structure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A derrick structure comprising a main framework, a water table structure, adjustable as to area, and means for connecting said water table structure to said main framework, said means being adjustable to vary I the location of the load with relation to the legs of the main framework.

2. A derrick structure comprising a main upon said main frame work, and means for.

adjusting the water table beams to different positions upon said plate so that the load of the water table structure may be disposed concentrically with relation to the center of gravity of the legs of the derrick structure,

regardless of whether or not these legs are reenforced. 1

4. A derrick structure comprising the main framework having single unit legs adapted for the mounting of reenforcing legs.

in cooperation therewith, water table beams,

and means for connecting said water table beams to said main framework, said beams being horizontally adjustable so that the load of the water table beams may be disposed concentrically with relation tothe center of gravity of the legs of the derrick structure,

regardless of whether or not these legs arereenforced.

5QA water table structure for derricks A1 comprising fwater table beams, and means for connecting and separating said beams and means for varying the spacing of said 'Water table beams.

6. A derrick structure comprlsing a main framework," a Water table structure, and ball and socket joints for supportingsaid Water table structure upon the corners of said framework, said ball and socket joints being i as bodily adjustable towards and away from the vertical center line of said main framework. 1 1

In testimony whereof, I, hereby; aflix my signature. ROY, C. PFEIL. 

